Q-Tip, Money Mark, and producer Mario Caldato Jr. reflect on the making of the Beastie Boys’ classic album Ill Communication. The process of making the Beastie Boys fourth album, Ill Communication, began on the tour for their third album, Check Your Head, in...
SMNTCS founder Sama’an Ashrawi has launched his new storytelling series, The Nostalgia Mixtape, as a streamable podcast. The podcast’s concept is simple and almost universally relatable: the stories of memories tied to music, told by notable names. The...
Sama’an Ashrawi returns to Nardwuar the Human Serviette’s radio show on CITR for round 2, this time to discuss his new podcast, The Nostalgia Mixtape, and play some nostalgic tunes. Below is an abridged, annotated version of our conversation. Listen to the...
SMNTCS founder Sama’an Ashrawi guested on a live taping of Am I Allowed to Like Anything? (AIATLA) at SXSW 2018, being interviewed by host Darian Harvin. Darian has a strong moral foundation that guides her infinite curiosity, it’s what makes her such a...
There is no excerpt because this is a protected...
I had the honor of receiving an invitation from ACCESS (Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services) to speak on a panel at the MOVE 2017 conference. The panel was to be about Arabs in Hip Hop; I’m half-Arab and have worked with a...
As part of my ‘When I Create’ interview series, I sat down for a talk with one of my favorite artists, Angel Deradoorian, stage name: Deradoorian, for a fun talk that covers topics such as: one of her recurring dreams, how she creates new music,...
While I was in Vancouver, Nardwuar the Human Serviette invited me onto his radio show at CiTR in the amazing new Student Nest at the University of British Columbia for a guest DJ mix and interview. It was a true honor and pleasure! Nardwuar is one of my favorite...
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate the 30th anniversary of this phenomenon we call Prince’s Purple Rain. On June 25th, 1984, six months after Michael Jackson’s Thriller premiered on MTV, the world was introduced to Prince, the icon....
JMSN, one of our personal favorites here at SMNTCS, has some new magic for our ears. The magic is called “Most of All,” and finds JMSN handling drums, piano, guitar, singing, and writing duties, with a little help from Aaron Provisor on the Rhodes, Yuki...